The relations of pain to weather : studied during eleven years of a case of traumatic neuralgia / by R. Catlin ; with notes by S. Weir Mitchell.

  • Catlin, Robert.
Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The relations of pain to weather : studied during eleven years of a case of traumatic neuralgia / by R. Catlin ; with notes by S. Weir Mitchell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    is an ebb-tide in pain, just preceding the meals: not so marked before breakfast, partly, no doubt, because it is with me a little less regular than other meals, and partly because storms coming within neuralgia range during the early and middle sleeping hours, would not ordinarily arouse their victim, but would strike in the morning as the sleep became less profound. This, doubtless, is the cause of the rapid rise in the curve, between 5 and 6 A. M. In support of this statement of the respect which a storm may have for its neuralgia subject, it may be added, that if the pain is on when the patient falls asleep, and he is aroused or awakens during the night, he will find himself free from pain ; but if he should move about, or stay awake 15 or 20 minutes, the pain is renewed, unless, in the mean time, the neuralgia time has expired.1 At 11 P. M. the average num- ber of attacks is not one a year, and from this time until 6 A. M., there is great immunity from onsets of pain. With regard to the prominent and remarkable feature of the curve on the 11 A.M. ordinate, it cannot be positively stated why the pain has shown this great partiality ; but there are some reasons which may be of interest to state. We have found that the years of high mean annual pressure gave high pain readings. We have also found that neuralgia in its relation to storms was not averse to a high barometer, but usually attacked on a falling barometer with rising tem- perature or increasing humidity. The diurnal oscillation of the barometer is indicated by the elliptical curve in Fig. E., which has for its ordinates the distances from the curve to the dial circle, and for its ab- scissas the hours of the day. The difference between the [! This is true in regard to most pain, and may be within the experience of many men ; we fall asleep, suffering, but awake without pain, even if the cause of pain remains. A brief period of being awake seems to be needed, in order that the cause become active. Sleep is a true anaesthetic.—S. W. M.]
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